Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum gave the high five to a construction worker at a rally on Monday in front of Allianz Insurances headquarters across from the World Trade Center site. Dozens of construction workers, union leaders and elected officials gathered on the steps of One Liberty Plazablowing whistles and shouting build it now! to demand that World Trade Center site insurers pay for the buildings destroyed on Sept. 11, 2001. An estimated 10,000 to 15,000 construction workers are expected to flood Downtown during the peak years of the redevelopment.
On the same day, developer Larry Silverstein and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey took seven insurersincluding Allianz to court to prevent them from using recent changes to the redevelopment plans to withhold more than $1.5 billion in insurance proceeds.